New Toys

Sometimes I am so full of ideas to write about I have to make notes so I don't forget them all.  And then some other times, my little blogging muse sits in the corner and she pouts and gives me the silent treatment.  This is what I have been dealing with. Since she is being so remarkably unhelpful, I suppose I will have to do this all myself.

My new toys are a few little treats I bought, all very inexpensive.

[caption id="attachment_1608" align="alignright" width="125" caption="Iris as a young woman, apparently in need of said treats..."][/caption]

As Iris Murdoch said, "One of the secrets to a happy life is continuous small treats."

I may have that tattooed on my person somewhere.  Or maybe not.  But either way, I could not agree more.  It doesn't have to be anything big--check out my post from last year,  Cheap Little Treats, for some ideas.  But for right now, here are my new toys:

First of all, I am really liking my avocado slicer/peeler. We've been on a turkey and avocado sandwich binge lately, and I finally got tired of having avocado under my nails every time I made a sandwich.  So not only does this little gizmo (it has no moving parts--can it still be called a gizmo?) slice the avocado very nicely, it also removes the peel at the same time. Way more fun than conventional methodology, and gives a much better looking slice.  As a companion piece to my slicer/peeler, I bought the Avo Saver, which really kind of looks like a piece of junk, to be perfectly honest. It's lurid green plastic with a rubbery strap that goes across the top, and I am sure it's made in China.  But here's the thing:  it works great!  Usually if I have a half avocado left over, I dutifully put in the fridge, going through the ministrations to keep it fresh, but secretly knowing that I'll be throwing it away in a few days, when it gets that murky brown (different from Murphy Brown) tone to it. And avocadoes aren't cheap, so that makes me mad!  With the Avo Saver, you put the half with the pit on the device, lash it down securely with the stretchy strap, and it stays for several days, in relatively good condition.  No, it's not perfect, but it only had a very little murky brown on it, and it was just a very thin layer I could scrape away easily.  Usually the murky brown penetrates the entire avocado.  So, a good purchase.

Next toy is the Chef'n Stem Gem strawberry stem remover.  I have to admit that the cuteness of this device swayed me.  As a bonus, it works well!  You press the green button like you were giving somebody an injection, which opens the pointy teeth.  You plunge the open teeth into the strawberry, twist, let go of the button, pull out, and tah-dah--quickly hulled strawberries.  It would be great if you had to do a whole bunch at once.  I'm sure it would really cut down on time. So another good purchase.

Next little item is some shampoo and conditioner.  As I've gotten older, my fine hair has gotten...oh...I guess fluffy would be a way to describe it.  I do not want fluffy hair.  I want shiny and smooth hair.  At the same time, however, I need volume, but volumizing products tend to exacerbate the fluffy issue.  It's a puzzler, I tell you.  I saw some ads for new smoothing products that somehow seem to be geared toward middle-agers (similar to a teenager, but different)  like myself, and the first thing I bought was L'Oreal Evercreme Cleansing Conditioner.  It very gently cleans, but mostly conditions.  It was fine, not amazing.  It does smell fantastic though.  So then I moved on to Suave Professionals Keratin Infusion Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner.  Now I have to say, I am very impressed.  When I use this shampoo and conditioner, my hair feels smooth and silky, it's shiny, and it still has oomph. And the price?  Well, you know, Suave does what theirs does for less than half the price.  Apparently in this case it's true!  It is indeed half the price of the L'Oreal line (which is still really cheap), so a bottle of the Suave Keratin is less than $3 at Wal-Mart, Target, etc.  I have color treated hair, so I am careful what I use on it.  I'm not advocating cheap slop.  Rather, I am advocating a cheap product that also happens to be excellent--a rare combination these days.

While some days I feel like Iris Murdoch looks (above), at least I know I'll have a delicious turkey and avocado sandwich (I just discovered that lightly sprinkling salt and pepper on the avocado in the sandwich is hugely helpful in bringing out the avocado flavor) to eat, and smooth, shiny hair to toss about.  So that's good. Happy life indeed.